Keratin/Brazilian blow dry

[RiffyWammal]

I am thinking of buy this home kit from Amazon, I've seen it discussed on here favourably and the reviews are very positive. I have very thick, dry hair which looks good when I've just painstakingly styled it with my Babyliss Big Hair but then goes back to being frizzy, bushy and wavy overnight or at the mere mention of moisture. I would love to have silky, shiny hair in good condition - I am not bothered about straightness as such, as I use heated rollers/tongs, but I would like it to fall vertically rather than horizontally! Kelly Brook is my hair idol, to give you some idea.

My hair is coloured (I do it myself) and it presently needs the roots doing. Does anyone know if it's best to do this before or after the treatment? I know I will have to use special shampoo/conditioner afterwards, but will this apply to serums, styling spray etc too? I use L'Oreal Extraordinary Oil and various heat protection sprays/mousses to avoid resembling a cross between Worzel Gummidge and Crystal Tips!

Hi, from what I remember it is better to do the colour first, as the keratin can help 'lock' it in.

You don't have to spend a fortune on special shampoos and conditioners (I use Tresemme naturals), you just have to make sure that ALL the things that you apply to your hair do not contain Sodium Chloride as this really shortens the life of the treatment.

Get it get it get it!! I have 'bush head' hair, thick, lots of it, wild, ghd's make me look fab but by the time I'm back from walking the school run I'm back to. 'Bush head ' this kit had made such a huge difference to my hair. Really cuts down drying time ( literally blast hair dry 5 mins with quick Gluck with barrel brush as oppose to 20 solid wrestling) and ghd fir 5 mins adding instead if sectionjbg fir 20-25 mins. My hairdresser noticed the difference too. Buy it, it 'a amazing!! I use the Treseme keratin shampoo and conditioner and now wash after three days and it looks no diff on day three than when I 'be washed/ghd it. Amaze balls!!

Thanks! I am definitely going to go for it, I just hope DH copes with applying it and straightening it ok!

I will colour it first then. I have searched for salt-free hair dyes without luck, does anyone know if they exist? If not I suppose I will colour it, do the keratin treatment, and then try to leave it as long as I can bear before colouring it again and re-doing the keratin treatment. The treatment lasts up to 3 months but I couldn't stand to leave my grey roots for that long!

I woke up today looking like a frizzy witch crossed with Phil Spektor. I can't wait to have effortlessly swishy hair!

dye it beforehand and then you can use normal hair dye again after 14 days anyway :o

Really, HungryGeorge? That's good to know! I take it you've tried this yourself and it's turned out ok?

the instructions say its fine over coloured hair but don't use a colour for 2 weeks after. Unless you want clips buy the refill kit not the starter one as its cheaper. all you get different is the starter kit has two clips a butterfly clip and a comb. You possibly have these already. I have just sat down literally from doing mine with this (how strange) I have used it before and love it but have just had a major hair disaster when hairdresser did a bleach bath to try and get the colour overload out of my hair and redye a lighter shade ARGGGHH I am now an orangy red colour but had seriously crap dry damaged looking non shiney birds nest hair... hated it so my only hope is this. I now have soft shiney straight and smooth hair, hope it stays that way when I wash it out in 3 days.

Hello - you may not recognise me with my new shiny, swishy hair

I am really, really pleased so far. It's the third day since I did it so I haven't washed it yet, but the difference is amazing. I wake up without looking like Crystal Tipps! I have no knots! My hair actually SHINES rather than absorbs light! And the swishing - my goodness. It doesn't feel like my hair - it's like I'm 6 and wearing a tea towel on my head to simulate long hair again.

It wasn't too bad to apply. I got DH to help me and although there was a lot of talking patiently through gritted teeth from me (he particularly struggled with the concept of sectioning) as I had to remind myself that he was being very lovely to help me, and really I wouldn't have been better off borrowing a chimp from the zoo, I really couldn't have done it so well by myself.

There isn't enough to do another treatment though - I have long, thick hair, and I think I'll get 3 treatments from two packs rather than 4. But it's so worth it! Also, it doesn't smell at all chemically when it's applied - it smells like caramel or popcorn - but when I came to blow dry it afterwards the fumes surprised me and stung my nose and throat. That is definitely the time to make sure you're in a well-ventilated room, not when applying it as I had thought. It also stinks when it's straightened, but then it goes back to smelling really nice again.

I am so happy!

:-)

Hi RiffyWammal and other similarly glossy-maned posters,

We're very jealous glad here at MNHQ that you've all got on so well with this and wondered if you'd write a review of it so that more Mumsnetters can read your tips?

If you don't mind, we'd love it if you'd go here and click the 'add a review' button. And if anyone else has any views, please do feel free to add your own.

very much.

Ooh yes, I shall do that Rachel! I'll wait until I've washed it then do a review. I didn't even know there was a facility to leave reviews on here!

Thanks RiffyWammal - lovely review. If anyone else wants to read it/add their own, swoosh on over here. Sorry you hadn't discovered the reviews section before, its homepage is here if you want to have a browse. Happy swishing.

I don't suppose any of you lovely ladies know if I can use this while pregnant? I did look at having the salon do it, but they're looking at £400!!!! which I just don't have

MTBMummy, the instructions say they don't recommend its use in pregnancy or when nursing- probably because they don't have any research to indicate the possible effects either way, whether harmful or harmless.

I've washed mine today, and it felt so strange as I shampood it, like I'd had it cut - it wasn't tangled and bushy, and I didn't have so much hair wrapped round my fingers afterwards? Maybe because I didn't have to pull out knots as I usually would. It has dried beautifully, smooth and shiny, and took much less styling to achieve a far better effect so it's all good!

Here are some before and after pics if anyone's interested. It looks a completely different colour in the after pic but I think that's mostly the light. It does say it can lighten your hair by a shade, which I don't mind as I'm trying to gradually lighten it anyway.

Thanks Riffy I was worried about that - guess I'll need to save my treatment for when I eventually return to work after mat leave - it can be my going back to the real world with a bump present